In the last weeks of 1975 and the early weeks of 1976, filmmaker James Szalapski captured footage showing the founders of the outlaw country movement in Texas and Tennessee.
The movie was low budget and at that time Szalapski wasn’t a “fully formed” film director. Capturing what he could, the imagery is that of a home movie. There are sections where the camera drops into a local tavern where regulars complain and discuss the state of country music. There is a host of songs by artists that AUK regulars will recognise. Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt feature here amongst others. The names, at the time of shooting, were not important. It was the feeling that somewhere things were changing, arguably for the better. The chosen clip is from Christmas Eve 1975, so let us take you back to that wonderful night.
It’s Christmas Eve at Guy and Susanna Clark’s place. Walking up to the door you can hear the noise of people talking, guitars tuning and the clink of numerous glasses. As you walk in the cigarette smoke hits you like a dust cloud on the prairie. The young outlaw country upstart, Steve Earle, sits at the foot of the table next to Rodney Crowell. Clark is holding court at the head of the table strewn with half-full bottles of booze and partly smoked cigarettes. An old-fashioned oil lamp lights up the whole scene.
Earle suddenly starts playing the country classic written by Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan, ‘Stay a Little Longer’ taking everyone off guard. Crowell joins in and eventually the rest of the rest of the party is singing and playing along. Hang your coat up, you ain’t going nowhere.
From the classic outlaw country documentary ‘Heartworn Highways‘ by James Szalapski. A view of the movement in Texas and Tennessee in the last weeks of 1975 and the first weeks of 1976.
